The invention relates to skate boots, in particular to skate boots featuring an exterior toe protector, and to a method of manufacturing skate boots.
Toe protectors are not new to the field of sports equipment and hockey in particular. Hockey skates are provided with a shell-like reinforcement in the toe region of the skate to prevent injuries. Canadian patent No. 839,484 discloses a skate boot construction including a toe cap. A molded convex dome-like shell is placed over the last and stapled to the insole of the boot; an upper toe covering flexible material is then placed over the last and over the toe cap and secured to the insole of the boot. This is the typical method of manufacturing a skate boot having a protective toe cap.
Most skate boots are normally manufactured in the following manner: A toe-cap is positioned on the last of the skate boot. A last is a three-dimensional shape of the inside cavity of the boot or shoe. A pre-assembled boot consisting of various pieces of fabric and/or leather is placed over the last and over the toe-cap. An insole is then placed on the bottom part of the last. The pre-assembled boot is stretched over the last and over the toe cap in order for the pre-assembled boot to conform to the specific shape of the last. The toe cap is therefore located inside the boot. The stretched material is then nailed or tacked and glued to the insole to maintain the desired shape. Once the upper part of the skate boot is completed, a rigid outsole is glued to the insole of the boot to complete the skate boot. An ice blade holder or an in-line roller chassis is then mounted to the rigid outsole to complete the skate.
More recently, skate boots have been made with the toe cap outside the skate boot. This method has the advantage of eliminating all material covering the toe cap of the skate boot. However, the stretching part of the manufacturing process had to be modified. The pre-assembled boot no longer required a toe cap covering material since it was no longer necessary to stretch this material over the toe cap. A tongue was sewn to the toe cap. The protective toe cap and tongue assembly was inserted between the sides of the pre-assembled boot and sewn to each side of the boot. The stretching over the last was done only along the sides and at the rear of the pre-assembled boot where material was then glued and nailed or tacked to the insole. Finally, an outsole was nailed and glued to the bottom of the skate boot covering the bottom of the toe cap previously installed.
The above described method of manufacturing a skate boot using an exterior toe cap produced an inferior formfitting skate boot in the frontal area of the foot. Skaters using skate boots having an exterior toe cap often complained about poor frontal fitting of this type of skate boot. The frontal area of the skate boot was not being stretched properly and the result was a somewhat awkward fitting skate, which was either too tight or too loose.
Thus, there is a need in the industry for a skate boot featuring an outside toe protector which has equal formfitting qualities as a traditionally made skate boot.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a skate boot having an outside toe protector that has equal formfitting qualities as a traditionally made skate boot.
It is another object of the invention to provide a skate boot construction adapted to increase the frontal formfitting of a skate boot.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of making a skate boot having an outside toe protector which has a good frontal form fit.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a skate boot comprising an upper for supporting and enclosing a skater""s foot. The upper has a heel counter, an ankle support, a medial quarter and a lateral quarter, each quarter having a frontal edge; the medial and lateral quarters extending forwardly from the heel counter and the ankle support. An insole forms the bottom of the upper and a toe cover defining a toe box for covering the toe area of the skater""s foot, is connected to the frontal edges and to the insole. A tongue is connected to the toe cover for cushioning and covering the upper frontal part of the skater""s foot and ankle. The skate boot also comprises a preformed toe protector overlying the toe cover and secured to the upper. The toe protector has a convex upper portion covering the front, the top and the sides of the toe cover. The toe protector also has an anchoring portion for securing the toe protector to the upper.
Preferably, the toe protector further comprises a tab extending inwardly from each lateral extensions for fastening the toe protector to the insole of the upper. Also, the toe protector comprises cut-out areas adapted to surround the frontal edges of the medial and lateral quarters to allow some degree of motion to these quarters.
Advantageously, the toe cover comprises at least two superposed layers: a first layer of smooth material facing the inside of the skate boot and a second layer of a textile material over the first layer and adapted to resist tension.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention also provides a method of making a skate boot comprising the steps of:
a) stretching over a last an upper having a toe cover, a heel counter, an ankle support, an insole, a medial quarter and a lateral quarter;
b) folding the edges of said upper underneath said insole on said last and fastening said edges to said;
c) affixing a preformed toe protector over said toe cover, said toe protector having a convex upper portion covering the front, the top and the sides of said toe cover and an anchoring portion for securing said toe protector to said insole;
d) simultaneously urging both sides said toe protector toward said medial and lateral quarters and fastening said anchoring portion of said toe protector to said insole.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the drawings.